Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

more."
say."
right"
sorrow."
work."
. .
right"
wisdom"
and should see the effects in our new
manner of life. And if it is a living faith
the fruits will be seen. "If there be life
in the body, the pulse will beat; and if
there be faith in the heart it will
So the wise man endued with knowl
edge will show out of a good conversa
tion (manner of living) his works with
meekness of wisdom. Such a one might
be described as a man of "practical wis
dom in pious living." (Vincent). Char
acter, a good life and right conduct are
the evidences of true wisdom and the
requisites of all worthy teachers. The
man of true wisdom must prove the
superiority of his wisdom by his good
life.
"Knowledge is proud that she has
learned so much
Wisdom is humble that she knows no
In these verses in James we have a con
trast between the wisdom which is not
from above and that which is
from
above. There is the true wisdom and the
counterfeit. Christ is the true Wisdom.
"But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus who
of God is made unto us, Wisdom . . . I
Cor. 1:30 Bitter envying (jealousy) is
an evidence of the lack of true wisdom.
True wisdom is lacking
where there is
not the good life. "What you are speaks
so loudly that I cannot hear what you
So character reveals the nature of
our wisdom.
The wisdom of the world is "earthly,
sensual, devilish." And as we would ex
pect this wisdom has always been a
curse. It has produced factions and jeal
ousy. Jealousy has been described as
"sorrow at other men's goodness and joy
at other men's
This sin pro
duces confusion and every vile deed.
In our Covenant (1871), "we abjure
and condemn infidelity,
under all its
various aspects, atheism . . . pantheism
. . . spiritualism . . . indifferentism .
formalism .
. . and we might add athe
istic communism and materialism. The
working out of man-made systems,
earthly wisdom, if it can be called wis
dom, has been and is responsible for
world conditions. Yet men continue to
reject the True Wisdom. If "might
makes
(earthly wisdom)
then
wars and fightings will naturally follow.
But this claim that "might makes
is earthly, sensual and devilish. What
a terrible thing war is and who can even
imagine the sufferings and horror of a
possible third World War!
The licensing of the liquor traffic,
evidently a product of earthly wisdom,
causes "confusion and every
vile
deed"
disorder, pauperism and crime.
Materialism and the inordinate desire
for money is not heavenly
380
wisdom. How
much strife is caused by the love of
money! There are lawsuits, jealousies,
separated families . . . W.
J. Bryan said,
"Those who live for money spend the
first half of their lives getting all they
can from everybody else and the last
half trying to keep everybody else from
getting what they have away from
them; and they find no pleasure in
either half."
But there is the true wisdom. This
wisdom makes for righteousness. "And
the fruit of righteousness is sown in
peace for them that make R. V.
peace."
We cannot secure peace by compromis
ing with evil. In striving for righteous
ness there may be conflict, misunder
standing and suffering, but it is the way
to peace. To give up that which is right
for the sake of peace will not make for
peace. Peace is one of the fruits of
righteousness.
This true wisdom has seven-fold ex
cellence. Is this primarily a wisdom of
the heart It is first "pure." Purity is
its essential nature. It is free from all
wrong motives. It is not numerically,
but first essentially. (Vincent). This
wisdom, coming from above, even from
God Himself, is pure. How many times
did James see this kind of wisdom ex
emplified in Jesus as they played and
worked together in that home in Nazar
eth! What a lasting effect this perfect
example had upon James!
It is also peaceable. The beatitude
about the pure in heart is followed by
the beatitude concerning
"peacemakers."Matt.
5:8-9. Why should purity of
heart lead to peace Another character
istic of true wisdom is gentleness. Gen
tleness made Jesus great. Psalm 18:35;
Matt. 12:20; Mark 10:13-16; Isaiah 40:
11. Jesus was infinite in power, yet in
finite in gentleness too.
Perhaps the expression "easy to be
entreated"
is one of the most appealing.
It is easy to approach some people.
Those who come to Jesus in all sincerity
and truth found Him most approach
able, available and able. We are urged
to come boldly unto the Throne of
Grace (Heb. 4:16). He will in no wise
cast out those who come (John 6:37).
"Come."
His gracious invitation is,
Matt. 11:28-30. All of us have been
greatly blessed and our lives have been
enriched because our teachers have been
patient and longsuffering with us. They
have been easily entreated
true wisdom.
a sign of
This ideal wisdom is full of mercy
and good fruits. What a blessing a good
teacher is! Is it any wonder that the
multitudes were astonished as they lis
tened to Him Who spake as never man
spake Matt. 7:28
Men possesed with true wisdom arenot
"time
servers,"
influenced by par
tiality and hypocrisy. There is no shift
ing of convictions to gain favor, no pre
tense and no attempt to be evasive.
Evidently there are many
attempts to
use words to conceal the real convic
tions. Liberal leaders have been accused
of using the language of the orthodox to
deceive their hearers. This kind of wis
dom is described above as "earthly sen
devilish."
sual, They try to blow both
hot and cold at the same time.
Questions
1. What is the relation between char
acter and true wisdom
2. Why are men opposed to the "true
God
Prayer
as revealed in the Word of
For the C.Y.P.U. Conferences.
For the work of the Church in For
eign Fields.
For the Christian Amendment Move
ment.
W. M= S. Department
Mrs. Ross Latimer. Editor.
Prayer Hour, 1:00 P.M. Monday
The 37th Annual Meeting
of the
Philadelphia Presbyterial was held at
the Orlando Reformed Presbyterian
Church, May 10 and 11.
The Theme
was "The Open Door" I Cor. 16:9.
Supper was served to the guests on
Tuesday evening. This was followed by
the evening meeting at which Rev.
A. W. Smith preached. After the serv
ice a Reception was held in the Social
Room of the Church.
Wednesday consisted of the meeting
of Presbytery and Presbyterial in the
morning and afternoon. At noon a fill
ing meal was enjoyed at the Broadway
Methodist Church, prepared by the
women of that same church.
Wednesday evening a Fellowship din
ner was held in the Social Room for
the guests and host congregation. At
the 8:00 p.m. meeting those present
witnessed the Licensure of Robert Mc
Cracken. During the day Mr. Mc
Cracken had given his trial pieces, to
be climaxed by this memorable event.
Miss Elizabeth McElroy
gave the
missionary address to bring to a close
this meeting of Philadelphia Presby
terial.
The Fellowship Class had a covered
dish supper at the church May 20. Mr.
Bob Simon showed some films for the
entertainment.
THE COVENANTER WITNESS